Earlier this week we talked about growing up in Russia in the nineties. Many of you brought up things you remembered from your childhood in Russia or in other countries. It is always fascinating to see what things transcended borders and what things were more regional. Let us continue this week.

Chewing Gum with Stickers/Inserts

One thing children liked buying was chewing gum (жевательная резинка, colloquially known as жвачка — not жевачка). It was not as much about the gum as about the other things you could find in the wrapping. Some brands of gum had stickers (наклейки) or inserts (вкладыши) that kids collected and traded. One particularly popular brand is the Love Is gum. This Turkish gum had cartoon inserts of the New Zealand Love Is cartoon.

Slinkies

Rainbow-colored slinkies (пружинки) were all the rage in the nineties. For those of you who may not be familiar (which I would find hard to believe), these were pretty much coils of flexible plastic stacked together that you could shift between your hands or off the stairs for visual effects.

Slime

Another toy that was a fad when I was young is slime (лизун). It was pretty much a ball of gooey material that you could throw at the wall and watch it slowly crawl down from it. These toys got dirty really quickly as dust and other dirt tended to stick to them. It is thought that the Russian name comes from the Ghostbusters (Охотники за привидениями) character Slimer (Лизун).

Elastic Rope Games

Jumping rope (скакалка) was and still is popular in Russia. However, what I’m describing here is different. Can you imagine waistband elastic (резинка), the stretchy narrow strip that goes, for example, in your underwear? Well, apart from sewing clothes is served an important purpose as a (mostly girls’) plaything.

The game was called играть в резиночку. I am told it is not known in the US. Perhaps it is known somewhere else? You need at least 3 people to play. A long stretch of elastic is tied into a loop. Two players are “posts” (столбики). They stand facing each other with their feet shoulder width apart (ноги на ширине плеч) so that the rope is tight. The other players take turns doing specially designated moves with their feet on the rope. Whoever makes and error or trips trades places with the post. Oh, the rope keeps rising, too. It may be easier to understand if you watch it.

Do any of these bring any memories from your childhood?